I now realize that - - My very first plane 2 years ago was the EasyStar - - it's numbers faced towards the back - so I gathered that all pushers should face that way.
All my others are tractor.
Duh - to me - -lesson learned - -

Now I see how this one flys - - it's time to download the rest of the plans.

I am still flying the same F22 after almost a year! It's given me soooooo much fun that I too wanted to build another and started looking through the thread again.

One thought that I have is not to have rudders on the vert stabilizers but to add a small TV fin in the big space immediately aft of the propellor that sticks out above and below the main surface; I think this would make it work better for hovering because the prop wash is the only air flowing over the control surfaces once you're in the hover. My full size F22 has rudders on the vertical stabilizers which work well in normal flight but have almost no effect in a hover.

Fantastic Flight Performance

Tomhe,

I have been getting 2 or more flights a day in with my bird and it just keeps letting me get away with everything I throw at it. Tonight I stalled it 3 feet off the ground pointing up at quarter throttle. I just shoved the nose down and straightened the wings out and she stopped for a second at about 1 foot off the ground before moving forward and gaining altitude. I tell you this plane never stops amazing me. I think 6mmflyrc needs to upgrade the kit on par with the Yardbird YB-22 and they will not be able to keep them in stock. Right now you have to do a lot more finish and setup work than the YB-22 requires mainly due to the fact that the 6mm kit is not as complete. Just my 2 cents of unsolicited advice.

Hey Guys

Hello, My name is Luke and im new to the whole foamy scene but love these 6mm aircraft and want one bad. Have a few newbie questions i fly all complete kits(ie aircraft, radio, electronics already installed and ready to go). What is a good radio to purchase to fly these aircraft, not looking for something that will cost me an arm and a leg but a good all around radio, that will work?? Also i was reading that the kits come with everything to build them, but i noticed does it come with the CF rod or do i buy that separate?? Also like i said new to the foamys and building from scratch or from a kit thats cut out, but does it have good directions so if i do have any questions during the building process??

The radio kind of depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to do with it. If you do not want anything fancy like a computerized TX you could by a 4 channel HiTec laser for 35-40$ on ebay brand new. Just make sure the radio you buy has mixing capability for the elevons. I belive all the directions you would need are on Tomhe's website. http://rc.tomhe.net/fa-18

Hello, My name is Luke and im new to the whole foamy scene but love these 6mm aircraft and want one bad. Have a few newbie questions i fly all complete kits(ie aircraft, radio, electronics already installed and ready to go). What is a good radio to purchase to fly these aircraft, not looking for something that will cost me an arm and a leg but a good all around radio, that will work?? Also i was reading that the kits come with everything to build them, but i noticed does it come with the CF rod or do i buy that separate?? Also like i said new to the foamys and building from scratch or from a kit thats cut out, but does it have good directions so if i do have any questions during the building process??

Thats all for now, thanks for listening!!

Luke

The 6mmflyrc quick build kit is fairly complete but you do have to do some beveling of the tab slots and a few other things to fit it all together. The control rods are junk and you will have to decide where to install your servos and cut the slots yourself and the motor mount is minimal. As for the instructions, they are OK but nothing special. They just took the same instructions they provide for their other planes and tweaked them a bit to account for the differences. The plane is fantastic and flies excellent but the kit could use some work. On the other hand the YardbirdRC YB-22 kit and instructions are about as complete as you will ever find. The foam is black depron so painting is not needed if black is OK with you and it comes with lots of decals to really dress it up. The YB-22 does not have the aerobatic range or agility of Tomhe's design but it is an excellent bird in its own right. I ended up buying both kits and have to say the YB-22 kit is the best but Tomhe's design makes up for what the 6mmflyrc kit lacks. If your new to building and not too confident you may want to buy the YB-22 kit. If you do not mind making a few mistakes and want a really high performance plane then the 6mm kit is the way to go.

As for the instructions here are links that will get you to both instructions sets. You can decide for yourself from there.

Oh! Neither kit comes with adhesive so you will need to get that no matter what kit you decide on.

For either bird I would recommend using a radio capable of programming in exponential. It really smooths out your flying and allows for very low level, high speed passes without a lot a twitching around. I us a Hitec Optic 6 that goes for $190 or the 2.4 GHz DX6i from Spectrum for a little less money. http://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/D...ProdID=SPM6600 Both are programable and have 6 to 8 model memory. I think that if you do not have exponential dialed in you will not be able to achieve full performance from either plane.

Secure that battery!

The rain stopped and the wind calmed a bit, finally, so I decided to get it a quick flight tonight - only the second time I've been able to fly in the month of September. Turned on the radio slapped in a battery and went for it. After a few laps around the field, I began putting the F-22 through its wild snap loops and rapid direction changing maneuvers when "vip" the motor quit and I saw something fly off. After a few seconds of trying to control the airplane, I heard a smack out in the field and realized that the something was my battery. I didn't even have to wonder what happened, I knew I forgot to wrap the Velcro strap around the battery and the wild maneuver ejected it.

Meanwhile, the F-22 is still coming down kind of like a leaf, rocking back and forth nose up, nose down and I'm standing there expecting it to stall and nose in or something, but at the last second it flared all on its own and settled onto the ground as gently as I've ever landed it.

So luck was with me or so it seems. I'll keep an eye on the battery, as it fell from about 75-100 feet, but does not appear to be damaged thanks to the soft ground. The aircraft is completely intact and undamaged - not even a scratch.

I've had so much fun with the F-22, and I had some 3mm Depron and a Feigao 1208436 sitting around, so I just had to build a 50% version.

All up weight is 4.1 to 4.7 ounces, depending on the battery. Hopefully it flies as well as the full size version. As with the full size, I doubled the fuselage pieces.

Maiden results coming soon.

Ben

FINALLY got to maiden the micro version. It flies, but oh so twitchy - I think I'll add that one to my computer radio, so I can use the expo settings.

Unless someone comes up with a stable, fast flying micro airplane, I'm done with micro birds. The concept is cool, but they don't fly any slower, are harder to see, and are way too sensitive. It is very responsive and does everything its big brother does. Its roll rate is very quick.

BTW the micro has a 14.25 inch ws and is 20 inches long.

I've created a template for an 80% version (22.75 inch ws). It will be a while before I build it, but I think that one will be a really sweet bird. I will be able to use either the standard LS park jet or purple peril that I have laying around.